When Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out on the 2026 movie schedule, it will mark nine years since Tom Holland and Zendaya collaborated for the first time on Spider-Man: Homecoming. Since then, they’ve become quite the power couple, and they’ve continued working together. Now, the Peter Parker actor has revealed a conversation he had with his partner while making this new movie that he would not have had with an actress he wasn’t in a relationship with.
As we get closer to the release of this upcoming Marvel movie, Holland is sharing some BTS stories about filming his fourth Spider-Man film. When he appeared on Good Hang, he told Amy Poehler all about a conversation he had with Zendaya that led to a dramatic change in a scene for the movie. Recalling the tough conversation they had, he said:
We had an amazing moment on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it's because of our relationship that this happened. We were shooting this scene, and we'd shot my coverage. We then turned around on Zendaya, we're doing her coverage, and I would never ever dream of saying this to an actress that I wasn't with, and I said to her, 'Do you think this scene is working?' And she was like, 'No, I don't think this scene is working at all.'
Yeah, I’d imagine asking your scene partner if what they’re filming is working isn’t something that’s super welcome. However, because Tom Holland and Zendaya have been a couple for so long (they got engaged at the end of 2024), I’d assume there’s a level of trust and understanding between them that makes critical conversations like this significantly easier.
This turned out to be a vital conversation, too, because it led to a really great change. Explaining what happened after he asked Zendaya if the scene was working, Holland said:
So, I then went to the producers and asked like, 'Do you think the scene is working?' And they said, 'No.' And I was like, 'Yeah, me and Z are really not feeling it.' I then went and sat down with [director Destin Daniel Cretton] and said, 'Hey man, listen, I know we've been shooting for hours, I hate to tell you this, but I just don't think that this scene is working. Z and I like – what we're supposed to feel, we're not feeling it in the moment.'
While that had to have been a hard conversation to have, the Spider-Man: Brand New Day director was totally accepting and open to the note. After that, they worked together to rework the scene and make it better. Explaining the process that began because he asked Zendaya that question, Holland said:
And what I love about Destin is he's so calm. There's nothing that could throw him off. And he just kind of listened, and he sat down, and he was like, 'Well, what is it that you're trying to feel?' And I told him, and he went, 'Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what we need to be feeling.' So, he said to the crew, 'Everyone can go home. We're going to sit down, and we're going to rewrite this scene with the writer, Justin,' who is such a talent. And we came in the next day, we reshot the scene, and I'm so glad that we did because it sings in the movie, it really does.
He went on to say that if he had asked another actor if the scene was working, it probably wouldn’t have gone over well. And that likely would have meant that this big and important change didn’t happen.
Since he’s in a relationship with Zendaya, they know each other so well that they’re able to communicate in a way that people who are only colleagues might not be able to. So, thank goodness they’re actually a couple, because now we’ll get this scene in Spider-Man: Brand New Day that “sings.”
In the past, Zendaya has spoken about Holland being her “favorite” person to work with, and in 2026 alone, they’ll be in two movies together, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. So, it’s clear they have a rapport, both in a personal and professional sense, that benefits them and the projects they work on.
Now, to see these two back together on screen, you can watch The Odyssey in theaters on July 17. And then to see them return as Peter and MJ, you can catch Spider-Man: Brand New Day (and this scene that was changed because of their relationship) in theaters on July 31.
